Grain-cleaning machine



F. W. HUMPHRIES AND L. E MACKENZIE. GRAIN CLEANING MACHINE.

APPLICATION HLED JULY 12, 1921.

1,428,093. PatentedSept. 5,1922.

BY L. E.Ma4-.K nzle g Patented Sept 5, i922 i i I FRANCIS wiLLrAt rnuirrnarns AND Loans EDWIN MACKENZIE, or German, MANITOBA, GANADA. a

GRAIN-CLEALTING MACHINE. Application filed .Tuly'l2, 1921; Serial No;4845 261.

To all whom it may concern 7 I means can be employed for reciprocatingor Be it known that we, FRANCIS WILLIAM shaking the screen forwardly orback- HUMrHRiEs and Lonnie EDWIN MAGKENZIE, Wardly. The screen embodiesa rear sieve both oi the town of Garman, in the Province 8' anda frontsieve 9, these being separated of Manitoba, Canada; have invented cerbyan impertora te bottorn piece 10. a The tain new ,and usefulImprovements in sieve 8 is o-t fine mesh to allow of smallGrain'Cleaning Machines, of which the folseeds, such as pigweed seeds,to go through lowing is the specification. U Whilst the sieve 9 is oflarger mesh to allow VThe invention relates to improvements in of allother seeds passed forwardly to tall 1() grain d a i mg hi g a d thbject of through and the larger foreign material to the invention is toprovide a simply conbe passed ahead Where it is caught and disstructedmachine'whereby the grain can be charged by the inclined dischargetroughcleaned thoroughly and quickly by the ac- -1l. Aflchute 12 collects theseeds passing tion of a suction blast after the foreign sub through thesieve 8 and discharges it into a 15 stances such as 'straw,'pebble's andplaster, as receiving box 13 1 'isa ta'n casing con- ,70 are customarilyfound ingraim'have been aining the fan shaft "14 which Carries thepreviously removed. p fan l6 ope'rating inthe' casing, the fan be- Afurther object of the invention is to ing-rotated in a direction toeffect a suction provide a machine which can be adjusted to blast inviardly through the air this 17. an 20 take out more or less ot theimpurities as Outlet tube 14L" leads tromthe tan casing and desired andwhich operates to effect the sepis designed to discharge material fromthe aration under the combined influences of fan casinginto therceivingbox 14 It graj'ity and a suction blast. y will be observed thatthe air fine 17 grad- 'lVith the above more important obj sets in 'uallycontracts towards the front end of the '25 view the invention consistsessentially-in the :Ina'ol ine and terminates beneath the forarrangementand construction otparts here- Ward end of the sieve 9. l I inafter moreparticularly described and All the above parts are of ordinary conlaterpointed out in the appended claims, structionand WltlitllG exceptionotthe air reference being; had to the accompanying flue ai' enotturtherdescribed in detail.

30 drawing in whichz k Beneath the screen and directly under- 185 Fig. 1is a] longitudinal sectional view heath the sieve awe locatea' beltconveyor through a machineembodying our inven- "18 carried rearwardly bya comparatively tion. large drivenlroller '19 and forwardly b .a

Fig, 2 is an enlarged detail vertical secsmall roller 20" therollersbeing suitably 35 t'ional vien through the torwar il'end of themounted on the sides of the machine. The air fine and partsassociatedtherewith. beltis of such anaturethat itpresents a nap In thedrawing like charactersofretersurface so thatinaterial lodging onitvvill ence indicatecorresponding parts in each hate a tendency tocling to the belt. The figure p top side of the belt is spaced slightlyfrom 0 We have not considered it necessary to ithe underside of thesieve Q'and it is driven enter into a detailed description of the mainthe direction indicated by the i applied chine framework, drivingmechanism and arIORV FiQUQ. v r i other such major parts as ourinvention re- H Thetorward end of the air flue 17 is 1'0- lates entirelyto the parts employed for the catedj directly underneath the forward endI 45 separation of the g rain and not tothe deof the belt and here itwill be observedthat 'tails of the machine framework and drives. vtheunderside of the fine terminates in a The feed hopper 1 is suitablycarried at vgradually down curving lip 21'projecting the top of themachine bythe front and rear considerably in advance of the roller20 andlegs 2 andBQ' The mixed grain, seeds and j'thatithe top side of the.flue 'is' curved 50 foreign material are out into the hopper slightlydownwardly and'terniinates as inand fed inthe' usiiarmanner through the(heated at 22 immediately beneath the roller feed hopper opening .t onto an inclined reand thattheside walls ot the .flue present anciprocating screen 5 havingone end mountinclined end as 1ndica tedat23In this way ed on a roller 6 and the other carried by the this presentsa more or less "contracted 55 opposing side hangers 7. Any suitableentrance opening; ormouthcontained in an'llO of travel (if the tameinclined plane, the inclined plane being considered as containing theii'iclined ends The top side of the flue carries a scraper which engagesthe belt at the underside of the roller and serves to scrape off anymaterial clinging to the belt at this point. The top side of the fluealso carries an adjustable curved slide or gate 25 which can be adjustedand set in any adjusted position by the jam nut 26. Here it will beobserved that as the gate is moved forwardly the mouth of the flue isdecreased in area and that as the gate is extended it presents an archedsurface of greater or less area, depending on the adjustment.

lVhen the machine isin use an initial sep aration of the larger materialis made at the screen, the straw, pebbles and such like being carriedover the front end of the screen and discharged into the trough 11 andthe small seeds, such as pig-Weed seed, being passed through the sieve 8and discharged into the box 13. The grain and other seeds not previouslyseparated at the sieve 8 pass through the sieve 9 on to the belt and arecarried forwardly by the top side of the belt and the greater majorityof them are thrown ofi the front end of the belt, discharging into thearea of the flue suction draft which, owing to the'structure of the flueis in an upward direction inclicated more or less by the direction ofthe applied arrow 5 Figure 2.

It is a well known fact that the various grains, seeds and such like areof a different weight and that wild oats have a beard whilst tame oatsare practicallysmooth surfaced. On account of the varying weights thereis accordingly a variation in the direction of travel of the varyinggrains and seeds when they are discharged at a fairly high velocity fromthe front end of the screen and further the heavier seeds and grain havenot such a tendency to cling to the belt as the lighter ones at the timethey are being discharged. This discharging condition is indicated by anumber of dot and dash lines extending from the roller 20 to the tongue21 inFigure 2, the outer dot and dash line indicating, generallyspeaking, the direction of travel of the heavier material such as wheat,flax and such like and the several inner dot and dash outlines thedirection of travel of the other grains and seeds such as barley, tameoats, wild oats and all light seeds, the light seeds following thedirection ofthe innermost dot and dash line.

iVild oats, which have a natural tendency to cling to the nap of thebelt, are consequently later in being I discharged than tame oats sothat they will fall within the line oats. Any seeds or other materialstuck in the nap of the belt will be taken off by the scraper.

All the heavier material discharged such as wheat, flax, barley and tameoats land on the outer part of the lip 21 or that part where thedownward curvature is most steep, whilst the other lighter materials ifnot immediately swept in by the draft, land on the less abruptlydown-curving part of the tongue. The down sliding action of gravity onthe heavier grains landing on the abruptly downwardly inclining part ofthe tongue greater than the updrawing action of the blast so that saidgood grains slide oil the tip of the tongue and are deposited in thecollecting box 27. Those lighter grains which land on the less abruptlycurved part of the tongue are not acted on as strongly by the action ofgravity and are accordingly swept in through the mouth of the flue anddischarged through the chute 14: to the box 14*. Obviously the speed ofthe belt, the shape of the tongue and the velocity ofthe draft play animportantpart in the separation process and whilst we have not gone intothe action very minutely it is considered that the explanation givenwill explain the general action which we use.

By adjusting the gate 25 the mouth of the flue is contracted andconsequently a greater air suction. is produced at the mouth of the dueco..-.sidering the fan rotated at more or less constant speed. Anyincreased velocity affected in the air draft will of course draw in morematerialthrough the mouth of the flue as the air draft, becomingstronger, 0 overcomes the sliding action of the outer falling grains onthe tongue and under the action of gravity.

What we claim as our invention is 1. In a grain cleaning machine incombination, a horizontally disposed driven conveyor adapted toreceive'the grain to be cleaned and discharge the same at one end, saidconveyor having a nap surface and a suction air flue having the inletend thereof located underneath. the discharging end of the conveyor andpresenting a mouth containedin an inclined plane and the undersidethereof extended to provide a gradually down-curving tongue adapted toreceive the falling stream of grain.

2. In a grain cleaning machine in combi nation, ahorizontally disposeddriven conveyor adapted to receive the grain to be cleane'dand dischargethe same at one end, said conveyor having; a nap surface and a suctionair flue presenting a mouth con-- tained in an inclined plane andlocated beneath the dischar 'e end of the conveyor and with theunderside of the mouth presenting a gradually downwardl curving tongueon which the stream of grain falling from the conveyor is discharged.

3. In a grain cleaning machine in combination, a horizontally disposeddriven conveyor adapted to receive the grain to be cleaned and dischargethe same at one end, said conveyor having a nap surface and a suctionair flue presenting a mouth contained in an inclined plane and locatedbeneath the discharge end of the conveyor and with the underside of themouth presenting a gradually downwardly curving tongue on which thestream of grain falling from the conveyor is discharged and a scraperlooated on the top side of the flue adjoining the mouth and engaging theadjacent side of the conveyor.

